Honey Queen Raspberry vs Northern Gooseberry - TreeTime.ca

Honey Queen Raspberry vs Northern Gooseberry

Ribes oxyacanthoides

Rubus x Honey Queen

Northern Gooseberry
Honey Queen Raspberry

Northern Gooseberry is a small, ornamental quality native shrub with prickly stems. You can plant it anywhere you'd plant Prickly Rose or Common Wild Rose, such as your yard.

Most people find Northern Gooseberry berries a bit tart for significant fresh eating but they are good for baking, wine or jam.

Honey Queen Raspberry is known for its sweet honey flavor and unique yellow color. Its berries are soft and medium-sized, nice for picking and eating in the summer.

Honey Queen was developed in Rocky Mountain House by Robert Erskine and is very winter hardy. Canes are yellowish, floricane, arched and moderately spiny.

Honey Queen raspberries benefit from trellising for best results. While all raspberries prefer full sun, this variety is more shade-tolerant and can still produce well in partial shade.

The Honey Queen Raspberry is a fast-growing floricane. This means that raspberries will not grow on canes the year they first grow. The mature canes they do grow on, however, produce more berries than primocane varieties.

Check out some video of a Honey Queen Raspberry we saw this summer on our YouTube Channel. Click here.

Northern Gooseberry Quick Facts

Honey Queen Raspberry Quick Facts

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Zone: 1a
Zone: 2a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: any
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: none
Suckering: high


Foliage: small, rough, with jagged edges
Berries: purple or purplish black
Berries: sweet, yellow raspberries
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NL, YT, NT
Other Names: canada gooseberry, canadian gooseberry